There is nothing like a beautiful garden to overcome feelings of depression brought on by a rainy season.

It causes you to realize that the plants that remain on your own property, unplanted, are a sign of something deeper.

After traveling to Chippewa Lake this past Monday, where a pure joy of growing exuded from the property of Gisela Mattingly, I am mightily ashamed. This women thinks big. I am talking five bird baths, so many planters filled to the brim with colorful combinations of annuals, that I gave up counting.

Perennial plants have found exceeding happiness. There were bright red crocosmia. And the plants were tall! As tall as five feet. They proliferated, a sure sign of their pleasure.

Hostas presented repetition, sporting all shades of lavender blooms. They hugged the walkways of stone. They edged the fish pond. They were like collars on the edge of the property. Urns spewed with abundance and textural interest. Some were themed with members of the succulent family while others screamed with petunia drama.

It was clever how Gisela used beacon silver as the cascading materials in pots and planters. Hanging pots on the porch hung in glory. Daylilies, sedum, hydrangeas, and allium stood proudly on this sunny day, as grasses added their own color and sound. A bench invited a short sit in shade.

Butterfly weed and Joe-pye-weed hosted numerous butterflies. Popping up through the sea of color were trees like tri-colored beech, junipers, cypresses, a chestnut, a healthy birch, and purple smoke bushes. We saw a few castor bean plants.

A small vegetable garden was producing kohlrabi, and tomatoes.

When I told her that she had an arranger's paradise, she quipped "Oh, I don't arrange, I just grow!"

The invitation to visit originated from a club that lives near Steubenville. The group knew that this gardener had won the MasterGardening Award from the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs, a year ago; they were determined to see it. After walking, and raving and discussing all the health and vigor, we were directed to a screened building where we picnicked on salads and fruit, and a rosemary cake glazed with orange zest icing.

Within the building, artifacts with history and contemporary garden-related items provided a glimpse of things the hostess liked; rabbits sculpted, sprinkling cans and signs with happy quotations about gardening life brought smiles.

This visit became a golf cart tour of other neighbors' yards. This community is loaded with growers, and a sense of pride.

Mary Lee Minor is a member of the Earth, Wind and Flowers Garden Club, an accredited flower show judge for the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs and a former sixth-grade teacher.